


pretty face, shitty music taste

by wentzways



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, M/M, Multi, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-07-29 01:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7664791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wentzways/pseuds/wentzways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But when a bad rendition of Frank Sinatra is being screeched loudly next door at 3 AM (and there's no hot water left when he goes to take his own shower, the little bastard), Tony is suddenly very not okay with. But, being the outstanding citizen he truly is, he lets it slide. He figures it's a one night thing.</p><p>No. It's not. </p><p>This is a reoccurring thing on the weekend with different genres and different artists. What human being on earth even likes country music? (Tony has a soft spot for 2008 Tswizzle, but that's another story for another time.) It's maybe the 5th consecutive weekend in a row that he has does this, and Tony has had enough.</p><p> </p><p>He waits until Steve is asleep.</p><p> </p><p>When he can hear the soft snores through the paper thin walls, he picks the most obnoxious song he can find on his phone. Call Me Maybe. Tony hops in the shower, and belts the lyrics, off key and wavering voice. After he finishes, (with a grand finale, thank you very much) there is clapping next door. He's clapping.</p><p> </p><p> (When he drifts off, he can still hear the snickers coming from next door from the pretty boy who never sleeps.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. can't take my eyes off of you - frank sinatra

**Author's Note:**

> this has taken me since freshman year of high school to write to the start of my junior year. it's gone through so many rewrites and edits that it's ridiculous, and i'm probably only making this about five chapters long. I'M ALSO looking for a beta for this so if you're interested, my tumblr is havo-k! 
> 
> this is also based on a tumblr post i can't find anymore, so credits to whoever created the AU.

When Tony Stark's  _ (really hot) _ neighbor plays soft classical music next door late at night while he showers, he's okay with it. It’s not what he expected, sure, but it's calming, even. Especially after listening to Natasha and Wanda's playlists that consists solely of Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj at work. (He  _ really  _ wished he worked with people his age, even if he thought he was young at heart.) But when a bad rendition of Frank Sinatra is being screeched loudly next door at 3 AM (and there's no hot water left when he goes to take his own shower, the little bastard), Tony is suddenly very not okay with. But, being the outstanding citizen he  _ truly  _ is, he lets it slide. He figures it's a one night thing.   
  
No. It's not.    
  
This is a reoccurring thing on the weekend with different genres and different artists. What human being on earth even  _ likes  _ country music? (Tony has a soft spot for 2008 Tswizzle, but that's another story for another time.) It's maybe the 5th consecutive weekend in a row that he has does this, and Tony has had  _ enough _ .

 

He waits until Steve is asleep. 

 

When he can hear the soft snores through the paper thin walls, he picks the most obnoxious song he can find on his phone. Call Me Maybe. Tony hops in the shower, and  _ belts  _ the lyrics, off key and wavering voice. After he finishes, (with a grand finale, thank you very much) there is clapping next door. He's _ clapping. _

  
"Thank you, thank you! But, alas, I must go to bed because as much as I  _ know _ you would love an encore,  _ I  _ have work in the morning." He calls to his audience of one. Tony gets out, grinning, and goes to bed. (When he drifts off, he can still hear the snickers coming from next door from the pretty boy who never sleeps.)    
  


\---    
  


It's been a few nights since the music fiasco, and Steve continues to be a shit, simultaneously using all of the hot water and blasting music. 

 

It’s 2 am, and all Tony wants is to  _ go to sleep. _

 

Tony has resorted to texting his roommate Bruce instead of getting up and going to his room, because honestly Steve’s singing is nice. 

 

\---

  
**[ 2:04 AM ]**

**FROM: Tony.**

he keeps doing it and I'm gonna mcfricken loose it   
  


**[ 2:08 AM]**

**FROM: Tony.**

i didn't wanna start a war i wanted to get him to stop   
  


but he's hot and he can sing and   
  


**[ 2:10 AM ]**

**FROM: science bro  
** Please don't tell me about how our neighbor makes you….excited. I'm not…. Tony, I’m not prepared for this kind of information while I do my school work.

 

**[ 2:10 AM ]**

**FROM: Tony.  
** like u would know ur like never home    
  


**[ 2:11 AM ]**

**FROM: science bro  
** All the more reason to keep it a secret.

  
**[ 2:15 AM ]**

**FROM: Tony.  
** i’ll have sex in your bed you know

 

**[ 2:15 AM ]**

**FROM: Tony.  
** i  _ own  _ you, brucey

 

**[ 2:16 AM ]  
** _ Good bye _ , Tony.    
  
\---

  
Tony Stark is a Complete Idiot. He, in a drunken haze, thought it was an amazing idea to text Natasha and ask her to lunch, solely for bragging rights about his hot neighbor. 

 

Bad idea in theory, right? 

 

Worse when put into action.

 

Mid-meal, She has no problem voicing her opinion, damn her. "Bruce told me about your whining already. I knew this is why you wanted me to come.” She smirks, “Why not just, I 'unno,  _ ask him out? _ " She brandishes a french fry in his face, and he is so utterly offended. Tony begins to speak but before he can, Clint saddles up to the table with a smirk. "And who is Mr. Stark fawning over now?"    
  
Tony groans, "You guys don't understand! He's my not some guy I can just pick up at a bar, he's my  _ neighbor _ . help me Clint-Wan, you're my only hope. " He goes to hit his head on the table, sees his dinosaur chicken nuggets and thinks otherwise, because you can only pay Clint so much to make them. 

 

"What's the kid’s name?" Clint is borderline Joker smile, eyes twinkling with mischief. 

 

He knows he needs to get back to the kitchen, but really, why would he when he could hear about Tony's new object of affection. There's a long pause, then a muttered, "Steve. His name is Steve Rogers."    
  


Clint is silent at first.

 

".....Steve?  _ Steve Rogers _ ?!" The man is laughing. 

 

He's holding his stomach, tears stream down his face. He's causing quite a scene but there's nobody in the restaurant important for him to care enough. Tony, on the other hand is confused. Beyond confused. Like, as confused as he was when he found out that agent Hill was as gay as he was (He shudders to remember the time that he walked in on her trying to seduce Wanda.). 

 

"I mean, that is the name I  _ just  _ said, yes." He bites, and then Clint mumbles something that is either "I'll be back" or "I'll eat ass." Probably both. Nat face is shouting alarm, staring with eyes that shout “ABORT MISSION.” 

 

Tony is so utterly fucked. Sideways up the ass. 

 

\---

  
Pretty boy is here.   
  


Here as in, their table. Clint’s restaurant. 

 

How he knew Tony was there is beyond him. 

 

He walks up to the table and asks,”Um, is there a problem? Clint sent me out here, so..." He has such a kid voice, and God his  _ arms  _ are so-- 

 

Okay Tony Junior, calm down. 

 

Nat answers because Tony is too shocked to even answer and, okay, maybe he's staring at Steve’s arms in that _tight shirt._ _'Please don't notice me, please don't notice me-'_

 

"Hey, you're Tony! You're the man who--" 

 

"Hi, yeah hi." He's red, he can feel it, and Tony Stark _ never  _ blushes(except today, because he looks like a walking cherry tomato, thanks Steve).    
  
Natasha stares, appreciatively. She knew eye candy when she saw  it. Steve turns a lovely shade of pink at her gaze, and wow could this get  _ any worse? _

 

(Yes.) 

 

A fake laugh, oh man was Tony screwed. "How, uh, how've you been?" He moves to give Natasha a quick look, then back to Steve. "Good! Uh, good. Still learning my way around the city and stuff, mostly I just stick to around campus." And, oh holy shit Tony feels like such a creepy old guy. That's it, he's hit the peak of his life and now he's crumbling, he's gonna end up being a crusty old man who preys on young college kids.    
"Oh, you're in college?" Nat fills in, a grin stretched on her face. "Most of our friend group is out, but we have a few still going. Tony here, has three doctorates. How old are you?" She leaned toward him, cupping her face in her hands.    
  


“I'm only twenty five.” Tony cries, he couldn't help that he was a  _ genius.  _

 

Steve smiled and Tony wanted to die. Nat and Clint were the worst friends, ever. 

 

Steve flushes at the attention and begins to answer until Clint swoops in with a shit eating grin and says, "Back to work, Rogers, we've got people to feed." to get a "Yessir!" in reply. Steve smiles apologetically, looking straight at Tony (inside he's doing so many victory dances right now, he can't wait to bother Bruce about this) before he bolts back into the kitchen.    
  
“He's cute.” Natasha observes, eyes showing no sign of the sweet girl she was just playing it up as. 

 

“And Off-Limits, Bitch.” He grumbles. 

 

A handful of fries are thrown and his nuggets are stolen.

 

He thinks it's worth it.

\--- 

  
They never talk about that meeting, but Steve says hi to him whenever he goes back to eat. Clint snickers behind the counter, and Tony still hates being his friend. Nat “helps” by flirting with Steve. The only good thing is when he turns her down by telling her he's interested in men. He thinks he's one step closer to getting  _ in  _ his shower instead of listening to it.

 

\---

 

Tony's not sure why he even took Natasha's advice (He pretends like she blackmailed him if Steve or Bruce ask now, after the fact.).

 

But he takes her advice, and now he's belting out the last line to "Like a Virgin" By Madonna. When there's silence on the other side of the wall, he grows nervous. Was he not listening? Was he not there? Was it too much?

 

And then there's soft clapping. 

 

He's too lost in his own thoughts and the shock of knowing that Steve  _ actually heard  _ before he feels his water get cold, meaning he's either been in too long or that Steve also got in. It turns out to be the later, because "Untouched" by the Veronica's is being sung loudly, the walls doing nothing to quiet his neighbor. 

 

Well. 

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.   
  


Because it sounds nice and it's definitely not a song he imagines Steve singing but it still works and--. It's over and he hears soft laughter and he laughs too. Steve’s laugh was wonderful.  _ Steve  _ was wonderful. Tony was really fucking gay. 

 

Specifically, for Steve. 


	2. time to dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which tony reflects on his friends and the shitty mistakes he makes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK I ACTUALLY UPDATED

The next time Tony manages to pretend he has  _ any  _ sort of balls and  step into Clint’s diner, he is alone. He’s nervous, that much is apparent by the way his hands are shaking. Tony doesn’t  _ get  _ nervous. (He’s lying to himself, he’s practically shaking every second of the day that he’s alone.) The only form of communication he’s had with Steve since they met that first time at the diner was through the bathroom walls of their shitty apartment. Not the best way to pick up guys. It had taken him weeks to work up the courage to trek down to 25th Jay Street, and when he does finally make it through the door, he has to pretend like he’s there just to eat, not to see Steve. But Clint knows. He always knows. 

He saddles up to Tony at the counter, shit eating grin on his face, head resting gingerly on his arms.

“Here to eyefuck Steve again?” He hums, Tony slides the shades he had perched on his nose down to give him a blank stare. 

“Eloquent as ever, Barton. Get me my nuggets.” 

Clint snickers, mumbling something along the lines of, “You want Steve’s nuggets…” Tony has to remind himself to breath  _ and  _ not kill Clint, because he’d then have to answer to not only Nat, but to Pietro and he could totally handle at least one of them, (he’s lying) but he didn’t want to risk with two of them. They were an unlikely trio, but your worst nightmare. He glances around, taking in the purple and white themed diner he had gotten to know over the years. His eyes softened at the booth his friends usually took over, reminiscing over the long study hours they spent, the rip in the seat from the fisticuffs they would have when they were all young and naive, college days passing by in a blink of an eye. Nowadays, they were separated, all moving up in the world. Natasha was working her way up as a special agent in the FBI, Pietro working on his fashion line, Wanda, as the baby of the group, still getting her degree, and Thor, the mayor’s son, worming his way into the hearts of everybody as a giant cuddly artist. 

They all had their own lives.

But as for Tony? 

He didn’t worry much. He’d been the oldest of the bunch, the smartest, the richest. His life was set in stone for him. But that changed, because Howard Stark decided his son needed a bit of a reality check. Hence, why he now lived in the apartment he did. Now, there was nothing wrong the apartment, if you ignored the fact the paper thin walls, the constantly leaking faucet, and the shared water system with his next door neighbor. 

Yeah, his apartment wasn’t  _ that  _ bad. 

While he internally monologued about his apartment and what horrors lied inside, he nearly missed the beefy blond skipping up to him with flushed cheeks and a bright smile. Steve clearly had just arrived for work, his military jacket on, hair windswept. Tony swallows, opens his mouth to speak, but before he can even utter a word, he’s beat to it. “Tony! You haven’t stopped by in a while, I was starting to think that you didn’t wanna hang out!” His hips swing as he walks past him to go clock in quickly, and Tony feels so screwed. When he comes back out, his arms are on display in a just tight enough to still look good white cotton t-shirt, flexing as he leans against them across the counter from the older man. 

“Just...busy. Can’t help that i’m the Chairman to a company.” He figures if he can’t flirt correctly, might as well hype himself up. 

“Nah, he’s still workin’ for daddy right now. He’s just too much of a baby to tell you that.” 

“Shut  _ up,  _ Clint.”  

Tony really needs new friends. 

Steve laughs, and it’s a delicious sound that Tony suddenly wants to hear more of. Or would rather listen to him moan. Whatever came first. 

“So whatt’al it be, Mr. Chairman?” Clint asks, his face squished up, devious as always. Tony hates him. And he also already asked for nuggets, but he knows this means Clint won’t give him any. Fuck him. 

(Tony makes sure to secretly flip him the bird.) 

“What do you recommend, Steve?” He asks, and Steve perks up. “Oh! Well, i’m a vegan so…” He drawls on about his favorite things to eat at the diner, and what was healthy and what wasn’t, and Tony wished he was paying attention, really, but Steve looked so… so...he couldn’t even describe it. He looked overwhelmingly perfect.

“...So did’cha want the salad, or the soup?” 

“Um….Surprise me.” 

“You got it, Stark.” 

Both Clint and Steve disappear into the kitchen, and he is left to his own devices. 

**[ 12:15 P.M. ]**

**FROM:** **motherfucking tony stark bitch**

sup Slut are you busy today bc i need a new test subject 

**[ 12:16 P.M. ]**

**FROM: Bitch.**

Yeah im busy what do you need 

**[ 12:16 P.M. ]**

**FROM: Bitch.**

Ask Wanda 

**[ 12:16 P.M. ]**

**FROM: motherfucking tony stark bitch**

ok rude i will. 

**[ 12:16 P.M. ]**

**FROM: motherfucking tony stark bitch**

i want a divorce 

He gets no text back. He expects as much. A sigh leaves his lips, his head dropping to the counter. He needs his favorite wing-women to help him out with his plan, but it seems that Nat wanted nothing to do with him. 

He lifted his head back up, dialing Wanda’s number. 

“..’Ello? Tony?” She sounds groggy, or like her mouth is smashed against something. He hopes he isn’t interrupting anything. “Wanda! My favorite girl, how are y’a? How are the kids? And by kids I mean Vision and Pietro. Good? Great! Say, doll, can you come out today? I really need my girls with me for some bonding.” And he’s desperate, he knows it’s in his voice. He can hear it. 

There’s a soft chuckle in the phone, her voice coming in clearly now, “I’m doing homework, T, I can’t get out of it. Finals are coming up, you know this!” She’s gently scolding him for calling her, he knows, but he had to try. Now, he must fight this battle alone. He’s not sure if he can do that. He hasn’t been alone in a while, for anything, at least. Not since his parents booted him out. 

His friends seemed to think he was incapable of handling himself. They were right. 

He sighs, and smiles though Wanda can’t see him. “Okay.  Good luck, and if you ever need help, you know where to find me. Love you.” He gets a murmur of a reply and  _ click _ . 

When Steve returns, he has half a sandwich in his right hand and a cup of soup in his left. He has flushed cheeks, and he mumbles, “I couldn’t decide,” when he drops it in front of Tony. The food looks delicious, it always does, but he has no clue what anything is. He wasn’t listening, after all. He expects Steve to leave, but- 

He doesn’t. His eyes are bright, and he resembles as dog waiting for their owner to pick up the gift they left for them (usually a dead bird). Tony’s mouth hangs open, and he swallows his spit as he picks up the spoon and tries it. 

It’s good. Better than good. It’s divine, and he outright  _ moans  _ at the taste. Steve flushes, smiling proudly. “I knew you would like it.” He’s smug, and they talk a bit more before he has to slip back into work and do his real job, not flirting with Tony. Was it flirting? Tony sure hoped so. By the end of his meal, he planned on asking Steve out, his fear of rejection be damned. 

**[ 12:38 P.M. ]**

**FROM:** **motherfucking tony stark bitch**

ok i might do something stupid can we have a sleepover later please idk if i can face steve tonight

**[ 12:49 P.M. ]**

**FROM:** **Bitch.**

Tony no. Don’t do it. 

**[ 12:51 P.M. ]**

**FROM:** **motherfucking tony stark bitch**

too late lol 

He asks Steve out. 

**He gets rejected. He can’t go back to his apartment for two weeks. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me @fuckboypotter to send me hate and tell me how much my writing sucks and to delete myself also I'm still lookin for a beta for this (': thanks @ Michaela for telling me to end it happily fuk u, @ Nia for existing, and finally, as always, Maddie for being the best thing ever in my life and the only reason I realized I enjoy writing. love u bubby<3

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to maddie for putting up with my shit bc i'm the worst best friend and ur the best for reading my trash writing. 
> 
> again, i'm @havo-k on tumblr if you wanna beta or ask me questions about stuff marvel related.


End file.
